Gargoyles- A waterspout, usually carved in a grotesque human or animal figure, projecting from the gutter of a building. Also spelled gurgoyle. Webster Comprehensive Dictionary International Edition.

    Grotesque- The incongruous, fantastic, or uncouth in art; specifically, painting or sculpture combining human and animal forms. Webster Comprehensive Dictionary International Edition. Only decorative in form, not used as water spouts.

    The word gargoyle is formed from the French word gargouille, with the Latin root word, gargula, means throat or gullet. Another French word associated with the gargoyle is gargariser, which means to gargle. Another Latin root, gurgus, means to swallow.

    Decorative waterspouts have been found in ancient Greek and Roman sights, but not much is know of the history behind the inception of gargoyles and the use of them on Medieval churches. 

Some speculate that:

    Ancient Celts believed that if they mounted the heads of prey on village buildings, the heads would both repel evil and attract luck.

    This would have been incorporated into the Christian churches in order to cajole the Celts into phasing from their pagan ways into Christianity. By including their rural beliefs, the Christian religion created an easier absorption of the pagan ways.

    Another idea was that gargoyles were considered elementals, ancient earth spirits. The gargoyle was known to be a water spirit, one that purified water as it was guided up through its throat and out its mouth. Therefore, the gargoyle was a protective spirit. It was used to decorate the water spouts of houses so that the spirits would guide the water away and protect the buildings from water damage. Again, by incorporating this pagan belief into the Christian décor, the local people would be easier to convert.

    A French legend states that a water dragon named Gargoyille terrorized the land around Paris. Finally, the Bishop of Rouen defeated the beast and to show the people of the land the danger was over, attached the dragon’s head to the church.  

Construction of cathedral gargoyles:

    As Roofers cast lead sheets for covering the wooden frame of the cathedral to protect it from weather, they also cast lead for the drain pipes and gutters. Stone cutters carved the gutters and down spouts from stone, while the stone carvers created the individual spouts into fanciful creatures, each telling its own story or teaching its own lesson, to those who understood them. As the Celts and other primitive peoples did not read, they understood the carvings and their teachings well.